Yeux De Marbre
by Nozomi
Summary: [Ficlet] [Fluff] [slight JounouchiYuugi] Sometimes, it's the little things in life that you can find yourself most grateful for.


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Yeux De Marbre

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Tick. Tick. Tick.

Chin leaning on his open palm, Yuugi Mutou attempted both to keep his eyes open and to fight back a yawn. Unfortunately, the dual attempts only succeeded in causing the youth to succumb to both instincts. Yuugi yawned tiredly and slumped farther forward onto the counter, the muted _ticks_ of the clock on the wall continuing ever onward, lulling him into a state of half-consciousness.

Just thirty more minutes...

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Thirty... more...

The bell over the door jingled merrily, causing Yuugi to jerk upward and scramble to regain awareness as a burst of icy wind blew in. "Welcome to-- Ah! Jounouchi-kun!" The bright, sunny smile that lit up the shorter youth's face was unfeigned, even as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Hey, Yug'." Katsuya Jounouchi flashed his usual carefree grin at his best friend, the light of the dying sun shining from the window behind him casting a crimson tint on his features and hair. Yuugi squinted as the glare obscured his vision.

"Jounouchi-kun? What's that you've got under your arm?"

The blond shifted the small cylindrical container from underneath his arm and set it on the counter next to Yuugi, causing the sun to glint off of the polished surface. "Shizuka made hot chocolate. Want some?"

Amethyst eyes lit up happily, all trace of sleepiness forgotten for the moment. "Sure!"

As the blond unscrewed the cap and began to pour a little of the steaming liquid into the top, Yuugi allowed himself a moment to bask in the presence of his best friend. Jounouchi was always so graceful, when he wasn't being too aware of himself. Around others, especially Seto Kaiba, the blond was so self-conscious that he usually wound up tripping himself up; when it was just the two of them, Yuugi knew that Jounouchi felt no need to show off, because the shorter youth would count the blond as one of his most trusted friends no matter what.

"..._mrow_."

Yuugi blinked, eyes darting towards the blond's zipped jacket. Had Jounouchi's jacket just _meowed_? "Ano, Jounouchi-kun..."

There it was again, this time accompanied by the slightest of movements from inside of the blue denim jacket. Jounouchi winced and set down the hot chocolate container quickly, barely keeping from spilling the drink all over the counter. "Darnit, that hurt..." The blond admonished, reaching into his jacket.

There was a _yowl_, and he quickly jerked his hand back out, sporting three small, bleeding cuts on one finger for his efforts. "All right, already, calm down, will ya?" He muttered into his jacket, to Yuugi's confused amusement. Slowly, Jounouchi pulled down the zipper, depositing a small, round ball of fur onto the counter.

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi exclaimed in delight, as wide, pale yellow, slitted eyes blinked slowly up at him. "How pretty! But, Jounouchi-kun, why did you have a kitten in your jacket?"

"Well," the blond began, grinning self-consciously, "Shizuka found her, wandering around downtown, and sort of adopted her. Shizuka wanted me to keep her warm, cause she was freezing when we found her," He smiled as Yuugi reached a tentative hand to stroke the soft fur of the kitten's head. The animal purred softly and butted against the shorter youth's palm, but raised one delicate paw to swipe at Jounouchi's fingers when he attempted to scratch under her chin. "I don't think she likes me much."

"Of course she does!" Yuugi protested, as if no one could possibly not like Jounouchi. "You just have to know how to handle her." He giggled at the feeling of a dry nose sniffing delicately at his fingers. "Here." Carefully, he scooped up the kitten in both hands, placing her gently into Jounouchi's cupped hands as the blond moved closer to receive her. 

"Now pet her." Yuugi urged, and the blond carefully scratched the cat behind it's ears. She purred softly, snuggling up to Jounouchi's body heat. 

"Hey, it worked!"

"See?" The spiky-haired boy asked, stifling a yawn. "I told you."

"Ya sure did," the blond acknowledged, "But what should we call her?" He carefully untangled the kitten's paws from a loose string that had been hanging from his jacket, and set her down on the counter. The cat glared up at him balefully for a moment, then promptly rolled over onto her back, exposing her furred underbelly.

"What about 'Yuki'?" Yuugi asked, eyelids drooping. He contemplated the cat, who was now gazing at him upside-down. "I've never seen a cat do that before."

"Neither have I. Yuki sounds good." Jounouchi complied, dangling a bit of string over the kitten, who dutifully pawed at it. "You all right, Yug'?" He asked, when he felt a weight on his side and looked down to see the top of a tri-colored head of hair leaning on him.

"Mm... Just tired, Jounouchi-kun..." Jounouchi-kun was very warm, Yuugi realized tiredly, especially compared to the air in the shop. He smiled and shifted a bit closer. He could hear the blond's pulse beating in his ears, could hear Jounouchi when he swallowed.

The shorter youth felt Jounouchi reach up to lightly tap his nose, and Yuugi wrinkled said nose at the motion, cracking one eye open. "_Jounouchi_-ku-- Ah! Jounouchi-kun, she's scratching up the counter!" He jerked up, making a grab for the cat, who had been attempting to sharpen her claws on the counter's surface.

Yuki dodged his feeble attempts at snatching her off of the counter, as well as Jounouchi's grab for her, and darted quickly onto the floor, making for the door, which had blown slightly ajar.

"Come back here, you!" Jounouchi dived for the cat, going over the counter and knocking over the cup of forgotten hot chocolate, which proceeded to spill everywhere, much to Yuugi's chagrin. "Sorry 'bout that, Yug'! I'll get her, don't worry!"

Yuugi groaned and went for the paper towels, but couldn't help but smile at Jounouchi's antics as he did so. Some things never changed.

And he never wanted them to.

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Hmm. I have to say that this didn't come out entirely how I had imagined it, but, as I don't know exactly what's wrong or missing, I'm relatively content with it. Perhaps it's because my only other attempt at fluff was also my only known attempt at het, and I'm not that adept at it yet. I may come back and make small changes to this later. We shall have to see.

C&C always appreciated na no da!

Cheers!  
Nozomi


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